Interiors are one of the core themes of the work of Maurice van Tellingen. These interiors usually manifest themselves in his work in the form of a small looking box. Van Tellingen likes to refer to these items as spatial paintings. A comparison with seventeenth century Dutch genre painting is obvious. It places him in a long tradition of artists that have represented interior scenes in the Netherlands. However, whereas the interiors of Vermeer and Pieter de Hoogh are populated with figures, Van Tellingen´s depiction remain devoid of human presence. It is possible to notice traces of human activity however. He evokes this by a clever use of light, that within the context of the constructed interior has no natural source. Where human presence does become distinctly apparent, it does so indirectly, as with shadow.
The work evokes the passing of time, or perhaps ´time stood still´, something alternative to our society obsessed with spectacle and sensation. News items, images and advertisement bombard our everyday interior space. Peace and quiet hardly seem possible in this situation. However Van Tellingen attempts to give us back this time with his models; a ticking clock literally refers to this. By presenting us with it, we receive the time to perceive the everyday and uneventful as something worthwhile.
